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Principles of Electronic
Communication Systems

Fourth Edition

Louis E. Frenzel, Jr.

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Chapter 14

Antennas and Wave Propagation

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Topics
A. Optical Characteristics of Radio Waves
1. Reflection
2. Refraction
3. Diffraction
B. Radio Wave Propagation Through Space
1. Ground waves
2. Sky waves
3. Space waves
C. Calculating Received Power
1. Path Attenuation
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Topics
D. Common propagation problems
1. Fading
2. Multipath
3. Diversity system

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Radio Wave Propagation

“The path that an electromagnetic signal

takes to a receiving antenna depends upon
many factors, including the frequency of the
signal, atmospheric conditions, and time of
day. All these factors can be taken into
account to predict the propagation of radio
waves from transmitter to receiver.”

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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves
Radio waves
 act very much as light waves do.

Light waves
 can be reflected, refracted, diffracted, and focused by
other objects.

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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves
1. Reflection
 all metallic objects reflect radio waves, especially if
the metallic object is at least one-half wavelength at
the frequency of operation.
 such as building parts, water towers, automobiles,
airplanes, and even power lines
 also produced by other partially conductive surfaces,
such as the earth and bodies of water.
 follows the principles of light wave reflection, the
angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence

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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves

Figure 14-37: How a conductive surface reflects a radio wave.

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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves
1. Reflection
 a perfect conductor would cause total reflection, all
the wave energy striking the surface would be
reflected.
 no perfect conductors in the real world, the reflection
is never complete.
 but if the reflecting surface is a good conductor, such
as copper or aluminum, and is large enough, most of
the wave is reflected.
 Poorer conductors simply absorb some of the wave
energy.
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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves
2. Refraction
 is the bending of a wave due to the physical makeup
of the medium through which the wave passes
 speed of a radio wave, like the speed of light, is
approximately 300,000,000 m/s (186,400 mi/s) in free
space, i.e., in a vacuum or air
 when light passes through another medium, such as
water or glass, it slows down (causes bending)
 for radio waves, it encounters air of different
densities (degree of ionization).

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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves
2. Refraction
Index of refraction
 where the degree of bending depends.
 obtained by dividing the speed of a light (or radio) wave
in a vacuum and the speed of a light (or radio) wave in
the medium that causes the wave to be bent.
 its value in air is very close to 1.
 for any other medium will be greater than 1, with how
much greater depending upon how much the wave
speed is slowed.

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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves

Figure 14-38: How a change in the index of refraction causes bending

of a radio wave.

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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves
2. Refraction
Snell’s law
 formula used to determine the relationship between the
angles and the indices of refraction

where:
n1 = index of refraction of initial medium
n2 = index of refraction of medium into which wave passes
θ1 = angle of incidence
θ2 = angle of refraction
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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves
3. Diffraction
 the bending of waves around an object.

Shadow zone
 obstacle between a transmitter and receiver when
some of the signal is blocked

Huygens’ principle
“based on the assumption that all electromagnetic
waves, light as well as radio waves, radiate as
spherical wave fronts from a source.”
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A. Optical Characteristics of
Radio Waves
3. Diffraction
Knife-edge diffraction
 as the wave front passes the object, the point sources
of waves at the edge of the obstacle create additional
spherical waves that penetrate and fill in the shadow
zone.

Figure 14-39:The
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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
Three ( 3 ) basic paths:
1. Ground wave
2. Sky wave
3. Space wave

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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
1. Ground Waves
 or surface waves leave an antenna and remain close
to the earth.
 actually follow the curvature of the earth and can,
therefore, travel at distances beyond the horizon.
 must have vertical polarization to be propagated
from an antenna.
 strongest at the low- and medium-frequency ranges
(30-kHz to 3-MHz range)
 AM broadcast signals:
Day (ground) and Night (sky wave)
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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
1. Ground Waves
 the better the conductivity, the less the attenuation
and the greater the distance the waves can travel
 best at salt water
 Conductivity is usually lowest in low-moisture areas
such as deserts

Figure 14-40 Ground or surface wave radiation fromMcGraw-Hill

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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
2. Sky Waves
 radiated by the antenna into the upper atmosphere,
where they are bent back to earth.
Ionosphere
 where bending of signal occurs.
 Lowest point: app. 30mi (50km) above the earth and
extends as far as 250mi (400km) from the earth.
 divided into three layers
1. D layer - weakly ionized, daylight hours, absorb signals in 300 kHz to 3 MHz
2. E layer
3. F layer (F1 & F2) - highly ionized, both day and night,
& cause refraction of radio signals
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Figure 14-41: Sky wave propagation.

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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
2. Sky Waves
 Radiation directly vertical from the antenna, passes
through the ionosphere.
 As the angle of radiation decreases from the vertical,
some signals continue to pass through the ionosphere.
 But at some critical angle, which varies with signal
frequency, the waves begin to be refracted back to the
earth.
 The smaller the angle with respect to the earth, the
more likely it is that the waves will be refracted and sent
back to earth. (reflected)

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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
2. Sky Waves
 In general, the higher the frequency, the smaller the
radiation angle required for refraction to occur.
 At very high frequencies, essentially those above
about 50 MHz, refraction seldom occurs regardless of
the angle.
 VHF, UHF, and microwave signals usually pass through
the ionosphere without bending.
 However, during a period of sunspot activity, or other
unusual electromagnetic phenomena, VHF and even
UHF waves may be refracted by the ionosphere.

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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
2. Sky Waves
 Reflected radio waves are sent back to earth with
minimum signal loss.
 signal is propagated over an extremely long distance.
 most pronounced in the 3- to 30-MHz or shortwave
range, which permits extremely long distance
communication.
Multiple-skip or multiple-hop transmission
 the signal reflected back from the ionosphere strikes
the earth, is reflected back up to the ionosphere, and is
re-reflected back to earth. (20 hops ; 2000 mi/hop)
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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
3. Space Waves
 or direct waves, travels in a straight line directly from
the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna
 often referred to as line-of-sight communication
 travel horizontally from the transmitting antenna until
they reach the horizon, with a frequency above
approximately 30 MHz, particularly VHF, UHF, and
microwave s ignals.
Distance between transmitting antenna and the horizon:
where: ht = height of transmitting antenna, ft
d = distance from transmitter to horizon, mi
Radio horizon
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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space

Figure 14-42: Line-of-sight communication by direct or space waves.

Practical transmission distance D for straight-line wave

transmissions:
where: hr = height of
receiving antenna, ft
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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
3. Space Waves
Repeater
 a combination of a receiver and a transmitter operating on
separate frequencies
 usually, located between the transmitting and receiving
stations, and therefore it extends the communication
distance

Trunked repeater systems

 two or more repeaters are under the control of a computer
system that can transfer a user from an assigned but busy
repeater to another, available repeater
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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
 Such relay stations are located: 20 to 60
mi
 Mostly at high elevations to ensure
reliable communication over very long
distances.

Figure 14-44: Using repeater stations to increase communication distances at

microwave frequencies.
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B. Radio Wave Propagation
Through Space
Communication satellite
 “ultimate” repeater
 located in a geostationary orbit 22,500 mi above the
equator.
 act as fixed repeater stations

Transponder
 receiver-transmitter combination within the satellite.

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C. Calculating Received Power

“Basically, the degree of attenuation is

proportional to the square of the distance between
the transmitter and receiver.”
 Ground wave signals are greatly attenuated by objects
on the earth, which block the signals and reduce their
level at the receiver.
 In sky wave propagation, the Ionospheric conditions and
the number of hops determine the signal level at the
receiver, with each hop further reducing the signal level.
 Space wave signals are simply absorbed and attenuated
by objects in their path such as trees or walls.
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C. Calculating Received Power

Isotropic radiator: Power density

where:
Pd = power density of signal, W/m2
d = distance from point source, m
Pt = total transmitted power, W
Dipole: Power density
where:
Pd = power density of signal, W/m2
d = distance from point source, m
Pt = total transmitted power, W

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C. Calculating Received Power

Actual power: Receiving antenna

 For ground wave, or direct wave/space wave calculations

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C. Calculating Received Power

Sample:
1. Suppose a transmitter puts a 50-W signal into a
dipole antenna. The power density of the signal at a
distance of 30 mi (48.3 km, or 48,300 m) is ____.
Ans. 3 nW/m2
2. Assume that a transmitter is operating at 150 MHz
with a power of 3 W into a one-quarter wavelength
vertical antenna. The receiver, which is 20 mi (32.2
km, or 32,200 m) away, has an antenna with a gain
of 8 dB. What is the received power and input
voltage to receiver with 50 Ω impedance?
Ans. 1.24 nW & 250 μV
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C. Calculating Received Power

Sample:
3. A 275-ft high transmitting antenna has a gain of
12dB over a dipole. The receiving antenna, which is
60-ft high, has a gain of 3dB. The transmitter power
is 100 W at 224 MHz. Calculate the:
a) maximum transmitting distance and
Ans. 55 400 m
b) received power at the distance calculated in part (a).
(There is 1.61 km/mi.)
Ans. 31.6 nW

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D. Path Attenuation

Path Attenuation
 total power attenuation over a transmission path
𝒅𝑩 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔 = 𝟑𝟕𝒅𝑩 + 𝟐𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒇 + 𝟐𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒅
where: f = frequency of operation, MHz
d = distance traveled, mi
𝒅𝑩 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔 = 𝟑𝟐. 𝟒𝒅𝑩 + 𝟐𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒇 + 𝟐𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒅
where: f = frequency of operation, MHz
d = distance traveled, km
Sample: The attenuation over a 20-mi path at a frequency of
150 MHz is ______.
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D. Common Propagation
Problems
1. Fading
 variation in signal amplitude at the receiver caused
by the characteristics of the signal path & changes
in it.
 caused by four factors:
1. variation in distance between transmitter and
receiver,
2. changes in the environmental characteristics of the
signal path,
3. the presence of multiple signal paths, and
4. relative motion between the transmitter and receiver.
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D. Common Propagation
Problems
1. Fading
Shadow Fading
 caused by objects coming between the transmitter
and receiver
 this occurs if a vehicle containing a transceiver
moves in such a way that a large building or a
mountain comes between it and a base station
transceiver

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D. Common Propagation
Problems
2. Multipath Interference
 worst sources of fading
 sometimes called Rayleigh fading
 this type of fading occurs when a transmitted signal
takes multiple paths to the receiver because of
reflections

Doppler shift
 a signal frequency change, type of fading caused by
movement of either the transmitter or the receiver.
 Closer: High Frequency , Apart: Low Frequency
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D. Common Propagation
Problems
Remarks
Fading
1. UHF and microwave communication
2. Long-distance shortwave communication
3. Few decibels or 20 to 30 dB
4. Fading margin – to overcome fading, (at least 5dB)
5. Highly directive antennas – greatly minimized fading
6. Broadband signals, less sensitive to multipath fading
than narrowband signals.

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D. Common Propagation
Problems
3. Diversity System
 can be used to minimize the fading
 uses multiple transmitters, receivers, or antennas to
mitigate the problems caused by multipath signals
2 Most Common:
1. Frequency diversity
 two separate sets of transmitters and receivers
operating on different frequencies are used to transmit
the same information simultaneously, widely spaced
 rarely used except in cases where extreme reliability is
a must (expensive, frequency spectrum scarcity)
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D. Common Propagation
Problems
2 Most Common:
2. Space / Spatial diversity
 more widely used, used mainly at base stations
 uses two receiver antennas spaced as far apart as
possible to receive the signals.
 antennas at slightly different locations will receive
different variations of the signals, with one being better
than another.
 spacing may be horizontal or vertical (wider the better)
Minimum / Optimum Spacing:
𝒉
= 𝟏𝟏
𝒅
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D. Common Propagation
Problems

Figure 14-45 Common diversity reception systems.

(a) Signals are combined for maximum output..
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D. Common Propagation
Problems
Received signal strength indicators
(RSSIs)

Figure 14-45 Common diversity reception systems.

(b) Only the strongest signal is switched to the receiver.
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End

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SW1M
1. A cell phone antenna tower 240 ft high uses spatial
diversity. What is the minimum desirable antenna
separation?
2. What is the path attenuation between transmitter and
receiver at a frequency of 1.2 GHz and a distance of
11mi?
3. An antenna has a gain of 6dB. What is its gain with
respect to an isotropic radiator?
4. A 175-ft high transmitting antenna has a gain of 6dB over
a dipole. The receiving antenna, which is 55-ft high, has a
gain of 2dB. The transmitter power is 75 W at 204 MHz.
Calculate the:
a.maximum transmitting distance and
b.received power at the distance calculated in part (a).
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